Wings of Fire: The Emerald Blade
by Mnkjango
Summary: Darkstalker is defeated, and Pyrrhia seems at peace. But in the shadows, an ancient danger more powerful than any Pyrrhia has faced before is preparing to return. Only two dragons stand in his way...
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is not my first published story, though it is my first fanfiction. My first story that I published is on Wattpad and it is called Vitanon. It is unfinished, and I do not plan on ever resuming it, so feel free to continue it or use the characters as long as you let me know if you do. Also, in terms of where this fanfic fits on the canon timeline, it is somewhere after most of book ten but before the epilogue. And as for the weird name in the prophecy, I made it by combining the Latin words for "blade" and "emerald". That's it. Enjoy!**

 **THE EMERALD PROPHECY**

 _With blood of a royal,_

 _With blood of a son,_

 _With blood of a loyal,_

 _The end has begun._

 _Only a RainWing can take up the blade,_

 _Only The Descendant is the demon's bane._

 _If Feruragdus is not found before the first bloom,_

 _Soulslayer rises, spelling Pyrrhia's doom._

 **PROLOGUE**

 _4,500 years ago…._

 _Clang. Clang. Clang._

Cloud hammered away at the weapon on the anvil before him, careful to make no mistakes, because if he made a mistake, all of Pyrrhia would be doomed.

The deep crimson of anger began to form on his scales, but he pushed on through his frustration.

 _I could've just enchanted the blasted thing together,_ Cloud thought grumpily. But then again, he couldn't have. The dragon who gave him his "animus" powers had told him he couldn't use it whenever and wherever he wanted, because it would give him a feeling of entitlement to everything that "mortals" weren't supposed to have.

Ironically, it was that same dragon he was making this weapon to kill, the same dragon who, barely half a millennium after the Scorching and the chaos of the beginning of dragonkind, had slaughtered hundreds of dragons and torn Pyrrhia in half.

 _Clang. Clang._

The gems before him began to take shape into the greatest, most powerful weapon ever forged, a weapon enchanted by him, and blessed by the supposed embodiment of light itself. He had been skeptical when the dragon had said that, but then again, it was hard not to believe that coming from a pure white dragon that could fire light from his hands. Cloud just hoped whatever blessing was on the emeralds was enough to kill the demon terrorizing Pyrrhia.

 _The demon who gave me my powers,_ he thought begrudgingly.

 _Clang._

He stopped hammering the blade and lifted it up to the light.

Perfect.

This was the weapon that would save Pyrrhia.

"Cloud!" he heard a voice call from outside the blacksmith's hut, "The village is under attack! Bladestorm's leading the charge, that little NightWing snake!"

With a growl, Cloud stalked to the exit of the hut, with Ferruragdus in hand.

This was it.

No more dragons would die.

It ended here.


	2. Chapter 1: Off to a Shaky Start

**A/N: Sorry the prologue was so short, I didn't realize. Don't worry, this chapter will be longer! Also, Frost is not completely my idea. I got it from someone I talked to on a WoF chat forum I stumbled across once. If you're that person and remember me, hi. Enjoy. If not, enjoy anyway, and let me know what you think!**

PART ONE

BLOOD OF A ROYAL

Chapter One: Off to a Shaky Start

Frost was lost.

In all honesty, she should've been paying more attention to where she was going, but there were just so many distractions in the rainforest that before she knew it, she'd been flying all by herself, rather than with the group of other IceWings she'd come here with.

Three moons, she hated this place.

It was pretty, sure; there were about a million colors, which was about a million more colors than the Ice Kingdom (Everything was either blue or white and it was _super_ boring). It was the opposite of the Ice Kingdom, actually. Which was the problem. It was humid and buggy and noisy and FOR PYRRHIA'S SAKE, WHY WAS IT SO HOT!?

So, all in all, the beauty of it was a _bit_ overshadowed by everything that was awful about it.

"How do the RainWings live like this?" she grumbled to herself. "Honestly, if one more mosquito bites me, I will freeze the _entire_ forest."

She was thinking of how much she would enjoy that when she stumbled into a clearing and froze (heh, heh).

Across the clearing from her was a rock wall about ten feet high. Just below the top a small waterfall trickled down into a small, clear pool. On either side of the water were flowering vines, their petals open to the heat in all sorts of reds and greens and blues and golds and purples and a bunch of other colors Frost couldn't even describe. Sunlight filtered through a hole in the canopy, bathing the clearing in an almost surreal light, and the grass and a smattering of more multicolored flowers swayed in a gentle wind.

Not to mention, the mosquitos had stopped biting her.

Frost decided that if the entire rest of the rainforest were like this that she would never want to leave.

She had no idea how long she would've stood there if she hadn't been tackled by a very heavy green blur.

"Ack!" she yelled. "What in the name of—" she rolled with the tackle, throwing whatever had tackled her off and stopping on her feet and with her serrated claws poised to strike, just like she'd learned in combat training. She watched the creature get to its feet.

What met her was a very confused and scared looking RainWing.

"Wh-what the—where am I?" he asked.

"Where are you?" she repeated incredulously, "I'll tell you where you are, you're in a load of trouble! How dare you attack an IceWing princess?!"

"I attacked an IceWing princess?!" He yelled in surprise, and his scales were so white he could've passed as an IceWing himself. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I must've been s-sleepwalking!"

"You were… sleepwalking." She echoed. "Riiiiiiight. That sounds believable."

"It is!" he responded. "I do it sometimes. I tie a rope around my ankle to keep myself in place in case I do, but it must've broken."

She looked at his ankle, and sure enough, there was a piece of rope tied to his ankle and broken at one end.

At this point, one of the other members of the royal family (except maybe Winter, but her cousin was exiled, so he didn't really count) would still be skeptical, but Frost was trusting by nature. She found herself relaxing and sitting down, whilst simultaneously tamping down the ingrained urge to lecture him about attacking princesses.

"What's your name?" she asked. The RainWing seemed mildly surprised by her sudden change in demeanor, but answered anyway.

"I'm Galapagos," He said, his scales settling to a leaf green. Frost noticed he had a small scar running from the base of his left horn down to below his right eye, and wondered how he could've gotten it.

"Gallop-what?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's usually how people respond when I introduce myself." He said with a smile. "My friends call me Gala for short. What's your name?"

"Princess Frost of the IceWings." She said in a mock dignified voice, and Gala smiled slightly. "You've probably met my cousin, Winter. He lives here."

"No, actually, but I've heard of him," He said. "So, if he's your cousin, does that make you Queen Glacier's daughter? Weren't you supposed to fight Snowfall to the death or something?"

The smile faded from Frost's face (a/n: that's a mouthful).

"I didn't qualify," she said quietly, "because only someone with royal blood can take the throne, and Queen Glacier adopted me."

"Oh," said Gala.

There was a slightly awkward pause.

"It's no wonder I sleepwalked here. I used to play in this clearing all the time." Gala said finally.

"It's really pretty," Frost said.

 _Understatement of the year_ , she thought to herself.

"I found it by accident when I was really little. It was like there was a compass pointing me here or something." He said.

"Some compass. Do you think you could maybe use it to help me find my way to the RainWing village?" she asked.

Gala laughed, flashes of yellow running across his scales. "I was wondering why you were by yourself. Sure, I can take you there. Follow me."

He got up and walked to the edge of the clearing, then turned and waited for Frost to follow.

After a moment, she got up and walked over. He turned and walked out of the clearing, and Frost, though she was reluctant to leave this oasis of calm into the hell of the rainforest, followed after him, glad she had already made a new friend.


	3. Chapter 2: Recollections

**A/N: I forgot to mention this, but updates are going to be infrequent, so don't message me to continue the story, I AM continuing it, just not at whatever point in time you're messaging me.**

 **Also, the usual disclaimer: Wings of Fire belongs to Tui T. Sutherland, the only things I own are my OCs and the plot. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Recollections

"Winter doesn't live here, by the way," Galapagos said as they walked, speaking loudly to be heard over the cacophony of the rainforest.

"Oh?" Frost asked.

"Yeah, he's just here studying scavengers, at least from what I've heard," Gala responded.

"That certainly sounds like Winter," Frost said.

There was a pause, during which Frost once again made a futile attempt to ward of the omnipresent mosquitos.

"So, Glacier adopted you?" Gala asked, attempting to break the awkward silence. "Why did she do that? Did she not have enough daughters?"

Frost gave a small smile at the joke. "Apparently not," she said, but then she grew serious. "I don't actually know why she adopted me, and I probably never will. But I'm glad she did, and believe it or not, she was actually a surprisingly good mother."

Galapagos gave a small grunt, but said nothing.

In the silence, Frost thought about Glacier, and she soon lapsed into memories.

Most adopted dragonets that she'd heard of had lost or been abandoned by their birth parents at such a young age they didn't remember them at all. That wasn't the case with Frost. She had been three when her parents died, and she remembered them vividly, as well as her older brother, who was also dead. Her parents had been unlike most other IceWings Frost knew. They didn't care about the circles, for one thing, which was reflected in their extremely low status. they didn't have the same discriminatory attitude towards other tribes either, though that was relatively common among the lower circles. They had taught her and her brother to be open-minded and kind, to speak their minds, and also how to take care of themselves, all things that most of her foster siblings had lacked.

A few days after Frost's third birthday, there was a riot near her house. She couldn't remember what it had been about, though it wasn't like that mattered. The result was still clear: Her parents had been killed by the crazed mob. Her brother had told her to run and had gone to try to save them. Frost had hidden in the back of the house for two days before she was found by soldiers searching the house. When they took her out of the house, she saw the dried blood on the walls, which confirmed what she had been refusing to accept; that her family was dead and never coming back. She had broken down into sobs and didn't stop until well after she'd been taken to the orphanage and left there.

She stayed in the orphanage for three months. She had been the oldest one there by a lot, and she felt uncomfortable and lonely among a bunch of little dragonets. One day, queen Glacier, probably to help her image in the public eye, had visited the orphanage. She had looked around for a bit before locking eyes with Frost in the corner.

"You there," She said, addressing the head of the orphanage, "What's that one doing here?"

The dragon looked over at Frost. "She's an orphan, your majesty, same as the others." He'd responded.

The queen looked at her then, and there was something in her eyes Frost hadn't expected: Genuine sympathy and affection.

"Not anymore," Glacier had said simply, and she had taken her under her wing and whisked her, without another word, out of the orphanage.

Frost had only ever received that look twice more after that: one time, when she was five, and she'd broken her wing, and Glacier had cradled her under her wing and sat through an entire night of pain-induced tears, and the last time Frost had ever seen the queen alive. That time, the queen, perhaps knowing she would not survive the strange plague that had taken hold of her, had called each of her daughters into her chamber separately, to tell them goodbye. Frost had been last. When she walked in, Glacier had locked eyes with her for the last time. "I never loved you any less than any of my other daughters, frost, I want you to know that," Glacier had said gently, and she had hugged Frost before sending her out.

Not long after that, the queen had succumbed to delirium, and the plague had begun to spread throughout the kingdom. At one point, in the midst of her own fever-induced haze, Frost had heard that Glacier had died. She had cried all that night, tears of self pity for having been orphaned yet again, and tears of mourning for her foster mother that had been just as good to her as her birth mother had been.

Perhaps it was the universe's cruel joke that Glacier's funeral had been on her sixth birthday. By then Frost had cried herself dry and was still recovering from the sickness, so she had sat quietly through the entire funeral service, which was longer than she'd ever been able to sit still before.

When Snowfall became queen, Frost had been prepared for the worst; Snowfall had always been the nastiest to her, and she'd assumed she'd be kicked out of the palace or something. Strangely enough, though, that never happened, perhaps because Glacier had said something about keeping Frost in the royal family (Snowfall hadn't exactly been subtle about her hatred of Frost, so it was likely Glacier told her something like that in the event that she became queen). Instead, Snowfall had simply become indifferent towards her. She'd been treated no better or worse than any of her other foster siblings, and that was just fine by her.

"Frost!" She was shaken from her reminiscing by Galapagos shouting her name. "What?" She asked. "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"That's fine," Gala responded. "I do that a lot. I was just letting you know we're here."

Ahead, Frost could see the first few huts of the RainWing village.

"Thanks, Galapagos," Frost said, "I can probably find my way to queen Glory's platform from here."

"You're welcome," Gala said. After a moment, he asked, "See you around?"

"Depends how long I'm here for, but I hope so," Frost responded.

Gala nodded. "Bye, Frost."

"Bye, Gala," She said. Gala turned around and flew off, probably towards his home.

After a moment, Frost turned towards where she assumed the queen's platform was, and flew off in that direction, hoping she wasn't late for the meeting.


	4. Chapter 3: Trapped

**A/N: See? Told you they're infrequent. I'm sorry for those who were waiting. Also, thanks for almost 400 views, it really means a lot!**

 **Feel free to point out any inaccuracies, and I'll be happy to correct them when I can!**

 **Disclaimer, Disclaimer, blah blah blah, let's get on with the story already!**

Chapter 3: Trapped

Beating her wings as fast as she could, Frost soon found herself arriving at the queen's platform, which was surprising considering she'd just picked a random direction. She'd assumed that she would get lost and stumble upon it just as the meeting was ending.

 _Guess I'm lucky today,_ Frost thought. _First Gala, now I magically pick the right way to go_. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Frost assumed a dignified pose (sort of) and walked into the chamber.

Inside, Snowfall and queen Glory seemed in the middle of a civilized, if not somewhat heated, discussion. To Glory's right was a large NightWing, which Frost could only assume was Deathbringer, Glory's overprotective bodyguard. Various guards were scattered around the edges of the room, some RainWing and some NightWing. A group of IceWing guards was huddled closer to the center of the room, forming a sort of semicircle on Snowfall's side of the table.

As soon as Frost entered, the discussion stopped, and everyone turned to face her. Frost, for her credit, was unshaken by this; she'd been late to enough royal events to have gotten used to it.

"Why, it's princess Frost," Snowfall sneered, the guards parting temporarily to let her see. "How kind of you to finally join us." Frost ignored the obvious jab, walking over to sit next to the IceWing Queen. The guards reformed the semicircle as soon as she was inside.

"What took you so long?" Snowfall hissed, completely ignoring the fact that there were other dragons around. "You've missed nearly half the meeting!"

"Well, if you were the one talking, it must not have been the important half," Frost shot back. Snowfall recoiled slightly, taken aback. Across the table, Deathbringer smirked, an action for which Glory promptly elbowed him in the ribcage.

"The Rainforest is a big place," Glory said, ignoring Deathbringer's cry of pain, "Getting lost is common for visitors. I'm glad you could make it, princess Frost."

Frost immediately decided she liked Glory much more than Snowfall, though it was hardly a contest.

Glory proceeded to summarize the important parts of the meeting that Frost had missed. Namely, the parts about the peace treaty that was being drafted.

"This is a big deal," Glory said. "This treaty will show the other tribes that peace is a possibility, not just an ideal. It's the first step towards a better Pyrrhia."

"That said," Snowfall interjected, "We've decided on a few of the terms, not the least of which being an agreement to have an IceWing royal stay in the RainWing village for a few weeks."

Frost looked at Snowfall, confused, before realizing where this was going.

"Namely," Snowfall finished with a smirk, "you."

The world had apparently decided to start spinning in the wrong direction, as Frost suddenly felt dizzy. "You can't be serious," She breathed.

"We need to show both our tribes we're serious about this," Glory said. "Rest assured, we'll try to make your stay as comfortable as possible."

Frost looked at Snowfall, knowing she had a different goal in mind.

She was just looking for a way to get rid of her.

Frost glared at Snowfall as her "sister" simply grinned devilishly back at her.

"Have fun," Snowfall hissed.

Frost knew then that her luck had run out.

She just hoped she could last however long it was she was trapped in this miserable forest.

As soon as the meeting had officially concluded, Frost burst outside and flew off, not really sure where she was going, just that she needed to get away and think.

She didn't know how long it was before her wings gave out and she fell to the ground, sobbing.

Six weeks.

She was trapped here for six. Whole. Weeks.

Trapped far from her home, in a cramped, hot, buggy, stupid rainforest.

 _It's not SO bad,_ part of her thought. _You're also away from your awful "sisters"._

That was true. Not to mention, she had a friend here. Sort of. If she could even find him again.

Speaking of… where was she? Looking up and wiping her eyes, she was pleasantly surprised to see the same clearing from earlier.

The clearing was even more beautiful at night; the flowers seemed to glow in the moonlight, and the millions of stars reflected off the clear water. _If only the rest of the rainforest was like this,_ Frost thought. _Maybe then I could stand being trapped here_. Walking over to the pool, she cupped some water in her front talons and splashed herself in the face, letting the cool water trickle down her scales. It helped calm her down, and after a few more times she felt much better.

As she prepared to head back to the village and whatever it held in store for her, she noticed something she hadn't before. Behind the waterfall, there was what looked like a cave entrance. Squinting, she tried to see what was inside the cave or how deep it went, but all she saw was darkness. She gave up, knowing that without fire it was practically pointless.

As she walked through the trees, back towards the village, a pair of eyes watched her from the cave entrance.

She was a problem, yes, but not one they couldn't deal with. They just needed more time.

And they had all the time in the world to finish their plan.


	5. Chapter 4: Chance (Re)Encounter

**A/N: Don't ask me why this chapter got uploaded so much faster than the last one. It's more like inconsistent than infrequent. Also, I just realized how screwy the formatting is. I guess pressing the spacebar so many times is unnecessary.**

 **I really appreciate all the positive feedback i've gotten so far. I really didn't expect this story to get that much attention. But enough out of me, let's get on with the story!**

Chapter 4: Chance (Re)Encounter

When Frost got back to the village, in the early pre dawn light, a group of RainWing guards was waiting for her on the outskirts. They escorted her through the village without a word, though some of them would occasionally turn around and give her empathetic looks. If she had to guess, she'd say that those ones had been part of the group of RainWings that had been kidnapped, so they knew how it felt to be trapped someplace that felt horrible to you. Frost didn't say anything about it, though, and the entire way to the hut she would be staying in, she let her thoughts wander.

She decided she needed to make a plan for her time here to help her get through it. She considered, and subsequently discarded, the idea of sulking in her hut the entire time. That would definitely not help any inter-tribe relations, and unlike her oh-so-noble sister, she actually cared about that. She went through a few more ideas, but only one really stuck out to her.

She needed to find Galapagos again. Sure, it would be easier to just make new friends, but she doubted many RainWings would be very comfortable around her so soon. Gala, on the other hand, had accepted her almost instantly, and had helped her. So that settled it. If she could find Gala, he could help her through the following weeks. She just needed to find him.

Somehow.

This train of thought was interrupted when the guards suddenly came to a halt. Frost looked up to see a small hut made out of palm wood, with a roof of leaves. It was simple, and it was on the ground, which was good; she didn't really feel like living in a treehouse. With a quiet thank you to the guards, she went inside. The hut was just as simple inside as out; in the middle was a stone slab she assumed was supposed to be a table, and in the corner was an indentation in the dirt that she assumed had been a bed of... whatever RainWings liked to sleep on. It had probably been removed because of her different preferences in terms of bedding. Walking over, she saw the dirt had been packed down to be hard. It felt cold, too, at least in relation to the air around her.

After a bit, she decided that it would be best for her to explore the village as soon as possible. The sooner she got used to it, the easier things would be. Not to mention there was the chance of stumbling into Gala, however slim. When she walked to the door, she noticed all the guards had left, which was strange. Then she realized they were probably camouflaged and watching her from the trees. She shrugged. She didn't care. It wasn't like she was doing anything secretive.

The RainWing village was interesting, to put it simply. It had sort of a quiet beauty to it, with lots of colors that were vibrant, but not so much that they hurt her eyes. All the homes looked unique, each one crafted by the family that lived in it. The sheer variety of everything in the village was amazing. Everything caught her eye, and everything had a story to tell. There weren't many mosquitos biting her at the moment, and she couldn't tell if that was because they stuck to the less open areas of the forest or that they preferred RainWing blood.

Occasionally, she would spot a NightWing or two mixed in with the crowd of RainWings. They stood out, but they also seemed like they belonged. When she saw two members of the tribes interacting, their conversation wasn't forced or laced with tension. It was amazing how much the NightWings (or most of them, anyway) had accepted their new lives and their new neighbors.

After an hour or so of wandering in one direction, she came to a river that marked one of the edges of the village. Tired, she sat by the shore, gazing at the IceWing that stared up at her from the rushing water. It seemed like a white scar in the river, and she could only imagine she'd looked the same among the RainWings and their homes. She couldn't pretend like she didn't see all the stares she'd drawn. She sighed, already overwhelmed.

She was so lost in her reflection that she didn't hear the voice calling to her until it was practically screaming in her ear.

"Hello? Frost? Anybody home?" A familiar voice asked.

She looked up to see a grinning Galapagos.

"Gala!" she exclaimed. "Hi! I didn't know if I was going to find you today!"

"Aw, were you looking for me?" He asked, his grin widening. She punched him playfully in the arm in response.

"Stop it," she laughed. "Why aren't you surprised to see me? I'm not still supposed to be here, as far as you know."

"Actually, queen Glory announced what was happening." Galapagos replied. "It would be kind of weird if an IceWing just started hanging around the village wouldn't it?"

Frost laughed again. "I suppose so," she grinned. She'd barely been talking to him again for a minute, and already she felt as happy as ever.

"In answer to your question," she said, "I _was_ looking for you. I need someone to help me get through the next few weeks."

"And you chose little ol' me?" Gala asked, in a fake surprised tone. "You flatter me, your highness. Really, you shouldn't have."

For the third time in two minutes, she laughed. What was it about this RainWing that made her laugh so easily. Whatever it was, she was glad for it. She knew this experience was going to be far better with Galapagos around.

For the first time since she learned she was trapped here, it seemed like things might turn out okay for her.

 **A/N: I'm sure we ALL know where Gala and Frost's relationship is going…**

 ***Cheesy romance intensifies***

 **Seriously, though, I'm gonna try as hard as I can to not make it puke-worthy, and not make it too important to the plot. Let me know if I fail in either regard, just not in a negative way. I have low self-esteem :(.**

 **Mnkjango, signing off for now.**


	6. Chapter 5: Musings of the Heart and Soul

**A/N: Well, that settles it. Starting next chapter, I need a beta reader. I'm sure you all caught the punctuation error towards the end of last chapter. I need someone to help me get rid of those before publishing. PM me if interested, I'll credit you for all chapters you work on.**

 **Also, this one took a really REALLY long time. Sorry. These annoying things called parents keep showing up and making me do things. Also I got a dog. So that's fun.**

 **Anyway, story time!**

Chapter 5: Musings of the Heart and Soul

The first two weeks seemed to fly by for Frost. Everyday, Galapagos would come to her hut in the morning (it was easier for him to come to her than vice-versa) and they would explore the village. It was every bit as beautiful and complex as it had first seemed, and while the heat and insects were miserable, the sights in the village were breathtaking. The RainWings seemed to be excellent engineers, able to build homes almost anywhere. Their skill was equally as impressive as the colors they managed to incorporate into what they built.

She and Gala would spend a lot of their time just walking around the village, talking. It felt good to have a friend after so long, someone she could actually talk to and share her thoughts with. Gala made her laugh easily, and she found it impossible to be unhappy for long when he was around her.

As the days went by, she found herself focusing more on Galapagos than the village. His humor, she noticed, sometimes held a bitter undertone, and he tended to avoid NightWings. She would sometimes find her gaze wandering to his scar, which stood out on his snout like the sun stood out from the sky around it. She was pretty sure she knew how he'd gotten it, but one day, she couldn't help herself, and she asked him about it. As soon as she did, his smile faded.

"I was… one of the RainWings kidnapped by the NightWings for experiments." He didn't say anymore, and she didn't ask for more. But she understood him a little better now, and she knew that he stuck with her because he knew how she felt, and wanted to help her through her time here.

But that wasn't it. As time went on, she felt different around him. Every time they touched at all, she felt little sparks go up her spine, and his ability to make her feel better was more than that of a friend's. She knew what was happening, had read enough stories to know, but she tried her best to ignore it. Still, it got harder to do so as time went on.

One day, a couple days before the halfway point of Frost's stay, she and Galapagos were sitting in the clearing, laughing at stories Frost was telling of stupid things her royal siblings had done. Gala was on the ground clutching his stomach at a story involving the current queen of the Icewings and a very aggressive penguin.

"A-and after that, she wo-wouldn't go near p-penguins at all," Frost gasped through her laughter, trying to finish the story. "She still hasn't since."

"I don't… I don't blame her," Gala laughed, "I-I wouldn't either. Talk about aggressive…"

"Yeah, she still has a s-scar," Frost said, taking deep breaths to calm down. Galapagos sat up, still giggling slightly. "Any other embarrassing stories of her oh-so-mighty highness?"  
"None as funny as that one," Frost replied. She moved her front talon to touch his but stopped herself. She focused firmly on the waterfall, trying to keep her head clear of unwanted thoughts.

Then she saw the cave again. "Hey, Gala," she asked, "what's in that cave?"

Gala followed her gaze, his expression turning confused. "I don't know," he replied, "I've never seen it before." He got up and started towards it, Frost following him. They splashed through the pool and peered inwards. The cave interior gradually sloped downwards. Light could be seen at the bottom of the slope where the cave wall turned. "Maybe we shouldn't go down there," Frost suggested, but Gala was already heading down. She followed him, growing uneasy as they went down.

They turned the curve to see the cave opened up slightly. At the other end, a large stone sat with torches on either side. Frost wondered who had lit them and how recently, but then she saw what was on the stone. A golden necklace sat dead center on the rock, with a Ruby pendant that glowed ominously in the torchlight. "Galapagos," Frost said, worried now, "we should really go. We don't know whose this is, they might not want us-"

But Galapagos ignored her, a vacant look in his eyes as he started towards the necklace…

And began to put it on.

Now Frost was fairly certain the necklace was animus-touched somehow. Before she could do anything about it, though, Gala had already put it on.

Instantly, Gala fell to the floor. Frost rushed towards him, but suddenly tow shadows burst out of the gem on the necklace.

They had the vague appearance of NightWings, but they were simply three-dimensional shadows, albeit with glowing red eyes. The bigger one laughed. "Finally," it said with a his. The voice sounded male, and adult. The shadow looked at Galapagos' fallen form. "Thank you for that," he said, then, turning to Frost, "You almost stopped him before. You're lucky you didn't manage to stop him again."

She growled and lunged at the shadows, but they were already gone. She collapsed next to Galapagos, and was relieved when she heard him breathing.

Then, her eyes widened as the necklace appeared to be sucked into Gala's neck. She didn't have time to think about it, though, because suddenly she heard talonsteps from the ramp. She turned to see two RainWings, the same two that had escorted her to her hut the first day, burst into the room. They saw Galapagos laying there, and without a word, they went over and picked him up. "Come on, princess Frost," one of them said, "We'll take both of you somewhere safe."

As they walked up the ramp, Frost realized just how much she was worried. It was as if a part of her was what was held limp between the two guards. And that was when she was finally forced to accept it.

She was, in fact, in love with Galapagos, and she couldn't just ignore it.

As they flew back towards the village, Frost didn't know which was worse: the potential Pyrrhian-threatening plot of two shadow dragons, or what Snowfall would do if she knew about her inexplicable feelings for Gala.

She decided the shadow dragons were a close second.


	7. Chapter 6: The New Prophecy

**A/N: What's this? An update? How unheard of! Seriously, though, I'm sorry this took so long. School's a pain in the ass sometimes. Plus, I needed some inspiration, and it turned out that reading book 12 was just that. Not that this will have anything to do with Pantala, of course.**

 **No beta reader yet, but I'm working on it.**

 **Anyway, to the story!**

Chapter 6: The New Prophecy

Frost paced nervously back and forth in front of the healer's tent. Her guards had brought Galapagos here, and the healers had taken him inside. She'd insisted on staying here and waiting, despite the guards insisting she should be inside her hut to be safe. That had been nearly twenty minutes ago. Now, here she was, waiting outside the tent and thinking furiously.

Who - and or _what_ \- were those shadow dragons? Why were they in the necklace? What did this mean for Pyrrhia? And most importantly… was Galapagos OK? As if hearing her thoughts, one of the RainWing healers moved through the curtain. "Princess Frost?" he asked. Frost looked up at the healer. "Yes? Is Gala OK?" she replied, trying to keep herself calm. "Yes… he's perfectly fine, actually. We can't find anything wrong with him at all. But he hasn't woken up yet." Frost had to stop herself from running inside and trying to shake Gala awake herself. "Let me know when-" she began, but was cut off by commotion inside.

"I'm fine!" she heard Gala's voice yell inside. A moment later, Gala pushed past the healer in the door and onto the platform outside. "Gala!" Frost yelled. She ran over and hugged him, making him laugh. "Easy there, Your Majesty," he joked. "I'm not injured, and I'd like it to stay that way." Frost laughed and broke away. But her happiness quickly faded. "Gala… what was that? What happened?" He appeared to think for a moment before he replied. "I don't know. I just… something made me want to put it on. I know that sounds weird, but…." he trailed off. _Definitely animus enchanted_ , Frost thought.

"Princess?" a voice behind her said. Another RainWing, one of her guards, was standing there. "The Queen wishes to speak with you." He turned to Galapagos. "Both of you." Frost shared a look with Gala. _This will be fun_.

/

"This isn't good," Glory said again, as she sat on the dias that amounted to her throne and mulled over the information Frost and Galapagos had given her. "Gee, that's only the fiftieth time you've said that," Deathbringer commented sarcastically. "But please, just in case we didn't hear it… tell us whether or not this is good." Glory's only response was a glare, to which Deathbringer raised his hands innocently. She turned back to Frost. "Do we have any idea where they could possibly have gone?" Before Frost could open her mouth, another guard ran in, holding a scroll. "Your Majesty!" he yelled. "A message!" Glory seemed confused. "Really? From who?" She took the scroll he was holding and dismissed him, opening it. She read it for a moment and groaned. "Oh, no."

"What is it?" Frost asked. Glory looked up at her. "It's from Moonwatcher. It's a prophecy, and if the timing is anything to go on, it's about your friends." Frost paled. A prophecy? Really? She'd known this was bad, but she hadn't known it was _that_ bad. Glory looked back down at the scroll and read it out loud.

"'Glory; I don't know what's happening or why, but I figured by the content of this prophecy that you'd know what it was talking about, or at least partially. I wish I could help, but I the most I could do was send you the prophecy. With any luck you'll be able to figure it out. From Moonwatcher.' Then there's the prophecy." Glory shifted in her seat, slightly uncomfortable. "I guess I have to read this out, too. I'm no good at this, but here goes:

' _With blood of a royal,_

 _With blood of a son,_

 _With blood of a loyal,_

 _The end has begun._

 _Only a rainwing can take up the blade,_

 _Only the descendent is the demon's bane._

 _If Ferruragdus is not found before the first bloom,_

 _Soulslayer rises, spelling Pyrrhia's doom._ '"

There was a pause as the words of the prophecy sank in. Frost somehow managed to look whiter than normal. "Cheery," Deathbringer said. "Indeed," Glory replied. Frost looked over at Gala, whose scales were turning white. She walked over to him. "Why don't you go home and get some rest? We'll figure this out." Gala seemed torn. "You sure? Shouldn't I be here? I mean, I kind of started this…." Glory looked up at them. "Go home, Galapagos," she said gently. "You look like you need some time to yourself." Gala looked at Frost again, before walking out of the room, escorted by two guards. Frost felt a pain in her chest as she watched him fly away through the trees. Oh, three moons, she was hopeless, wasn't she?

 _I need to worry about Pyrrhia_ , Frost thought as she turned back towards the dias. _I can worry about my stupid feelings later_. "Let's see if we can figure out what this is talking about," she said aloud, walking up to the dias to peer at the prophecy. "'Blood of a royal'... That seems self-explanatory. Whatever this is talking about needs the blood of a queen." Glory glanced at her. "Or a princess," she pointed out. Frost paused for a moment, then shook her head. "It can't be me. I'm adopted into the royal family. That may count legally, but for things like this, I think I'm exempt… either that, or I've read too many scrolls." They turned back to the prophecy, looking at the next couple of lines. "These others… what's a 'loyal'? And does it mean son literally or…" Glory trailed off, then shook her head. "Moons, I hate these things." Deathbringer smirked. "You sound like Tsunami." He immediately had to duck to avoid Glory's tail as she attempted to smack him over the head with it.

Taking the scroll gently, Frost looked at the last line. "'The end had begun' seems pretty clear. We can't let whoever this is talking about get this blood." Deathbringer sat back up. "I have a feeling," he said, "that it's talking about your mysteriou shadow dragons." Frost nodded without looking up. "That's what I'm afraid of." she said. She moved on to the next stanza. "So we need some sort of weapon, which only a RainWing can wield… maybe it means Galapagos?" Frost wondered aloud. "And the first bloom… what's that?" Glory looked over. "If I had to guess, I'd say they mean the first day of spring. That's in five days… that's not a lot of time." Deathbringer took the scroll from Frost. "Who's this 'Soulslayer' dragon? Sounds edgy." he commented. Glory snorted. "Like 'Deathbringer' is any better." This time it was Glory that had to duck. Frost shook her head lightly. "How are we supposed to prevent a prophecy being fulfilled in five days if we have barely anything to go on?" she asked aloud. "I don't know…" Glory said. "But I think we better start looking for this sword."

Before anyone could reply, the screams started from outside.


	8. Chapter 7: Well, That's New

**A/N: Alright, another one up already! Looks like we're getting back into the swing of things.**

 **While most chapters will be told from Frost's perspective, occasionally we'll get a chapter like this, which is told from another dragon's POV (Like Gala's, as this one is). This is mostly because there are some parts of the story that are better told from another perspective.**

 **Reviews, favorites and follows are always appreciated but certainly not necessary. Just knowing so many people read it makes me happy :).**

 **Now, to the story!**

Chapter 7: Well, That's New

(Galapagos' point of view)

As Galapagos was escorted back to his hut, his mind kept flashing all over the place. _Why have I never seen that cave until tonight? Why did I put the necklace on? Did it do something to me? And, more importantly… what happens now?_ He went over the prophecy in his head again. He hoped Frost had figured parts of it out by now, because he was completely clueless as to what it could mean. The only thing he knew was that he had the unpleasant feeling it had something to do with him.

They arrived at his treehut, and he went inside without a word. He noted that the guards didn't leave, instead taking positions on either side of the door, but he decided not to worry about that. He was stressed out enough. He sat down in the center of the one-room home, still thinking furiously. The necklace was clearly animus enchanted, but which animus had done the enchanting? Was it a recent thing, or some long lost artifact from thousands of years ago? Why hide it in the rainforest? All these thought and more circled again and again throughout his head, but two drew his attention the most.

Who were those shadow dragons?

And what, if anything, had that necklace done to him?

He assumed that it disappearing into his neck could just have been it's enchanted method of disposal, but he was concerned it had done something else, too. Maybe it was just his paranoia, but he could swear he felt a little different. Like there was some kind of buzzing underneath his scales, faint but noticeable. _Urgh… I'm not gonna get anywhere driving myself insane. I need to take my mind off this stuff._ Standing up, he walked over to a chest in the corner. One of his hobbies was drawing, and he figured that if anything would take his mind off things, it was sketching something. He moved to open the chest, only to find it wouldn't for some reason. _Great. It must be jammed_. He tried to force it open a few more times, his already significant frustration with recent events growing with each attempt.

"For Pyrrhia's sake!" he finally shouted in frustration. "Would you just open!" As soon as he spoke those words, he heard a click, and the chest opened fully by itself. Gala froze.

No.

No way.

It was ridiculous, it must have been a coincidence, and yet…

Raising his left front talon, he pointed to one of the blank pieces of paper in the chest and said, "come to my hand." Instantly, the paper floated into the air and landed in his hand… as if by magic. Animus magic.

Galapagos groaned, and dropping the paper, went back to the center of the room and collapsed with his face in his talons. _Why me?_ he kept thinking. _Why is this happening to me?_ He just wanted a calm, normal life. And now he'd unleashed some weird spirits from an animus enchanted object that had, apparently, turned him into an animus. As his shock subsided partially, a new question replaced the one that had just been answered: _What would be the point of doing that?_

Gala's thought were interrupted by a scream from outside that was quickly cut off. There was a thunking noise followed by sounds of a scuffle and then the noise of metal cutting through flesh. A moment later, the second guard's head rolled into the room. Gala went completely white and had to repress the urge to vomit. His gaze was torn away from the gruesome sight as he heard talonsteps in the doorway. There stood what could only have been one of the shadows he had unleashed, the bigger one, holding a knife and, for some reason, a cup.

"Hello, Galapagos," the NightWing shadow said. His voice was deep and carried with it a dignified and sophisticated air. "I'm glad I can finally thank you for freeing me from that horrid necklace. Consider this your reward." In moments, the shadow had crossed the expanse of the room and stood directly in front of Gala. Before he could react, the shadow ran his blade across Gala's throat, causing blood to gush down his scales. Gala released a gurgling scream as pain flared through his mind. Dimly he saw the shadow hold a cup under the blood flow, filling it. He looked into the cup as Gala collapsed, then looked down at the RainWing's prone form. "Thank you," he said, and then he was gone.

Panic flashed through Gala's mind. He was going to die, there was no way he could stop the blood before-

Wait a second.

He pressed his talons to his throat. "Heal," he gurgled, and a moment later the haze of pain disappeared from his mind. He stood up shakily, covered in his own blood. His eyes landed on the guard's disembodied head. He walked over and closed its eyes, then turned towards the door. He had to warn the others. He ran out the door, pausing briefly to close the eyes of the other guard, and then winged his way back towards the Queen's platform as fast as he could.

As he approached the platform, he heard commotion and looked down. Fire had erupted in the village, forming a perfect circle around the royal platform and preventing anyone from getting inside. Landing outside, he peered in quietly and paled at what he saw. An unfamiliar NightWing was inside, holding a blade against Queen Glory's throat. Deathbringer was glaring at the dragon a couple feet away, unable to get any closer for fear of making him kill Glory. Frost was nearby as well, looking shocked and scared. Gala steeled himself and walked inside. The NightWing looked at him and narrowed his eyes, and Gala saw that they were glowing red. If he was going to say anything, he was cut off by Deathbringer taking the opportunity to tackle the dragon, letting Glory break away. The dragon growled and wrestled with Deathbringer. He exhaled fire at the bodyguard, who narrowly avoided being burned to a crisp. Deathbringer picked up the discarded knife on the floor and thrust it towards the other NightWing's throat. At the last second, his opponent managed to bring his arm up, and the knife went into it instead, the blade poking through the flesh on the other side.

The dragon screamed and broke away, clutching at his arm. Deathbringer wasted no time in grabbing both sides of his head and snapping the dragon's neck, cutting off his screams. For a moment, there was silence. Then a shadow appeared above the body. "Well, that was short-lived." he said. "Of course, I don't need a body to kill you, but I'm still upset." Galapagos took that moment to raise his talon and say, "freeze." Instantly, the shadow stopped moving, and did not say anything else. The others turned to him, and he looked down at his talons to avoid their gaze. "Well," he heard Frost say after a moment, "I guess we know what the necklace did to you." Before Gala could reply, however, more screams from outside drew their attention. "The fire," Frost said. "We need to… I need to go put it out." She moved towards the door, then stopped when the commotion outside suddenly ceased.

Gala walked up to the door as well, confused, but stopped when another dragon stepped through. An IceWing. This did nothing to help his confusion. Wasn't Frost the only IceWing in the village? But a moment later, Frost spoke, answering his question.

"Winter." Frost said, her voice taking on a subtle edge. "How nice of you to join us."


	9. Chapter 8: And So It Begins

**A/N: Sorry if the last couple chapters seemed off in terms of tone and general quality. I was sick, but my muse just would not let me go, so I tried to write anyway. We should be getting back to normal now. Also, quick note: if the chapter is told from a POV other than Frost's, it will be stated in parentheses under the chapter title. Otherwise, it's Frost's perspective.**

 **Once again, please PM me about being my beta reader if interested.**

 **Enjoy the chapter.**

Chapter 8: And So It Begins (With a Lot of Arguing)

"Winter," Frost said, "how nice of you to join us."

Of _course_ it was Winter. It was as if the universe was conspiring against her. She thought she'd be able to avoid him for six weeks, and so far she'd been successful. And yet, here he was. On the same day she'd started some sort of horrible, world-ending prophecy (really, what prophecy _wasn't_ horrible and world-ending?) and having multiple people around her nearly killed, including herself. It was like everything had to go wrong on the same day.

She knew Winter had changed, of course. He was no longer the selfish prick he'd been in the Ice Kingdom that insulted her at every opportunity. That didn't mean she couldn't hold a grudge against him. And if there was one thing she'd learned from her foster siblings, it was how to hold a grudge.

Winter, for his credit, seemed unaware of her blatant hostility, or at least ignored it. He simply grunted at her in greeting before turning to Glory. "I heard the screams and came to see what was happening. I helped put the fire out for the most part, bu there are still a couple flames here and there. I think the RainWings can deal with them easily, though." Glory smiled at him. "Thank you, Winter." she said.

"I could have taken care of it," Frost muttered. Winter turned back to her, giving her a strange look, like she'd grown a second head. "To be honest," he said after a moment, "I didn't know you were here." Frost glared at him. "Of course you didn't," she practically spat, "why should you care?" Winter gave her another look, but this one seemed to hold understanding in it. "If this is about how I treated you in the Ice Kingdom-" he began, but Frost cut him off. "Of course it is!" she yelled. Winter flinched slightly. "What else would it be about?" Frost knew she was being a bit irrational, but she was too mad to really care. Years of anger at being unable to retaliate against not only Winter's insults, but the insults of all of her royal 'relatives', were bubbling to the surface, and she was too mentally exhausted to try and restrain them.

"Every time you saw me you had something negative to say to me! Never once did you say anything to me that wasn't an insult! You made it quite clear that you hated me! And what, now you expect me to be happy to see you? You want me to forgive you? You're more of an idiot than I thought." Winter somehow managed to look paler than usual, and he made no attempt to hide the hurt expression that crossed his face. Frost felt a grim satisfaction at seeing she'd gotten to him. _Good_ , she thought. _Maybe now he knows how_ I _felt every time he opened his stupid snout_. She might have let it go then (at least for the time being), but Winter had to speak up. "I'm sorry, ok?" he said. Frost felt anger flare in her chest again. "Oh, you're _sorry_?" She said, her voice filled with venom and dangerously quiet. Then she whirled around and, faster than Winter could react, raked her claws across his face. He roared in pain and stumbled back, clutching at his snout.

"Alright, that's enough!" she heard Glory yell. Frost had almost forgotten there were other dragons in the room with them. She turned to the others. Glory appeared to be extremely annoyed, judging by her glare and spots of blood red in her scales, and Deathbringer's face was carefully neutral. Galapagos was somehow keeping most of his scales their usual forest green, with some spots of varying colors, and he was looking at his front talons, looking extremely uncomfortable. It was that look on his face that made Frost calm down. She may have been angry at Winter, but she didn't want to make Gala uncomfortable. She turned back to Glory as the RainWing Queen spoke up again. "I understand you two have a lot of tension work through, but could you _please_ deal with it somewhere and sometime _else_ , in a preferably less violent manner?" At this, Deathbringer broke his neutral mask to regain his sarcastic smirk. "Really? _You_ suggesting less violence?" Glory turned her glare to him, as if daring him to continue that thought. Deathbringer kept that smirk on his face, but said nothing else.

Glory turned back to the others. "We need to figure out what to do next," she said. "We have a couple of ghosts to stop, and a magic sword to find." Winter, who had been rubbing at his snout (which had stopped bleeding rather quickly) and muttering "ow", paused and looked at Glory. "I'm sorry, _what_?" Glory sighed, before telling Winter the story she'd been told, as well as telling him about the prophecy and what had happened within the pavilion before he arrived. By the end of the story, Winter had an expression of confusion and disbelief on his face. "Moving on," Glory said, not giving Winter time to say anything, "we need to prevent this prophecy, and the only thing we know is that we need a really old sword." The Queen appeared frustrated. "How are we supposed to do this in five days?"

"Maybe someone knows about the sword," Frost piped up. "An archaeologist, or historian. It can't be completely obscure." A thoughtful expression crossed Glory's face. "That might work," she said, "but we don't have time to track down every one of those dragons across Pyrrhia. There has to be somewhere specific we can look." There was a pause as everyone seemed to think. Frost couldn't think of a good place to search that wouldn't exceed their time limit. Then Winter spoke again.

"Possibility," he said. "There were all sorts of strange and old places there, from what I remember. And dragons from all the tribes live there. If there's any chance of finding this sword, it's there." Glory nodded. "It's as good an idea as any. You'll go with Frost and Galapagos as a guide, and to help them. I'd go with you, but I'm needed here. I am Queen, after all." As if just remembering this herself, Glory sat up straighter and tried to make herself seem more authoritative. "Are… you sure it's a good idea for me to go with them?" Winter asked hesitantly. He turned to Frost when he said this. Frost simply glared back at him. "Frost," Glory said to her, causing her to switch her gaze to the Queen. "Do not kill Winter." Frost sighed. She'd protest, but even if she didn't know Glory all that well she knew that her mind wouldn't change on this.

"I'd suggest leaving as soon as possible," Glory continued, speaking to all three of the dragons in front of her. "You can use the tunnel to the desert as a shortcut. And here," she said as she held out the prophecy scroll. "You'll probably need it." Frost took it carefully, then looked up and met Glory's eyes. "Thank you," she said, "for everything." Then she turned and made her way towards the door. Galapagos and Winter followed.

Outside Winter caught up with her. "Let me take the scroll, so you don't have to hold it," he said, and he gestured to a pouch he had strapped under his wing, one of several, which Frost hadn't noticed before. She just continued to glare at him until he looked away, uncomfortable. _You can't stay mad at him forever_ , a voice in her head said. _I can certainly try_ , she said back to it stubbornly.

With a jolt, she realized she was leaving the Rainforest. True, once the excitement was over she'd probably have to come back and finish her time here, but at least she was getting a break. And even if the desert was just as hot, maybe hotter, Frost could do with a change of scenery.

"Can we talk?" Gala said from her left. Frost turned to him. "Sure," she said. Gala seemed to struggle with words for a moment. "You seem… rather unfazed by the fact that I… you know…" He trailed off. "...Are an animus?" Frost finished. Gala winced slightly, nodding. Frost shrugged. "I already figured the necklace had done something to you, so it wasn't much of a surprise. And besides, if you don't use the powers much it doesn't matter." Gala winced again. "I've already done, like, four spells," he said. "Well, they were small spells, right?" Frost asked him. He nodded slowly. She shrugged again. "Then don't worry about it." Gala smiled at her gratefully, and her heart did backflips inside her chest. "Thanks, Frost," he said. "Don't mention it," she said as she smiled back at him. Winter made a rather forced sounding cough, causing Frost to turn back to him and glare at him again.

Soon enough, they arrived at the tunnel that led to the desert. Frost shuddered at the unpleasant sensation that radiated from it. "Well, this thing seems lovely," she said aloud. She turned to Gala, who had spots of white and a couple other colors drifting through his scales. She placed her front talon over his. It was _totally_ just to comfort him. There was definitely _no other reason_ for doing it. Galapagos smiled at her again. "Sorry, I've just never left the Rainforest before," he explained. "And this tunnel doesn't exactly feel welcoming." Frost turned to the tunnel in question. "We'll all go together," she said.

The tunnel wasn't as bad as it seemed, though it was certainly weird and disorienting. Still, it was only a couple moments later that they were standing against hot sand, with a bright midday sun overhead. "Well, this should be fun," Winter commented sarcastically. Frost had to fight to suppress a grin. She _would not_ laugh at Winter's jokes. "Come on," she said. "We should get to Possibility as fast as possible. We shouldn't waste time."

She beat her wings and took off into the sky, the other two not far behind her. Winter pointed in the right direction, and together they headed off. Towards Possibility… and whatever fate had in store for them.

Frost could only hope it was something good for a change.

END PART ONE

 **A/N: And with that, we conclude part one of Wings of Fire: The Emerald Blade. The first chapter of part two should be up soon, hopefully. And yes, there will be three parts, just like a normal Wings of Fire book. Let me know how I'm doing so far, if I'm getting the characters right or if I'm omitting or forgetting any of the events from the books that might affect the story. And of course, I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Mnkjango, signing off for now.**


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